Your report (December 20) on the former national cricketer Colin Wiltshire who died in Trinidad recently, included a most meaningful recollection of his only son Garfield Wiltshire about his father’s admonition on the importance of education for a sportsman growing up.
Garfield at age 43 is an executive member of the Guyana Olympic Association and a former Caribbean Squash champion. He was reported to have said the following:
“Growing up, dad fully supported me with sports but he encouraged me to focus on both education and sport, since in Guyana… you can’t make a living from being a sportsman alone. My dad told me that you have to be equipped for life after sports.”
When Garfield was a 4th year student at the University of Guyana, I had the pleasure of having him in one of my classes in mathematics. He was often absent from class when he had to go to other countries for squash games. But as soon as he returned to Guyana he would immediately catch up with his studies and hand in assignments due while he was away. I remember my surprise when he got the highest mark in an exam in my course of statistics for his class after he returned to Guyana.
I hope all parents pay attention to their children’s education while they are young and love sports also.
Yours faithfully,
Peter Tan
